Congress deploys workers to check EVM ‘replacing’ by TRS

TPCC president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy and other Congress leaders celebrate the birth day of Sonia Gandhi at Gandhi Bhavan on Sunday. (Photo: S. Surender Reddy)

Hyderabad: The Congress is spooked by fears that TRS activists will replace EVMs in constituencies where the Opposition has fared well with machines containing data to show the TRS as the winner. To prevent, the Congress has deployed teams in more than 80 constituencies to keep a watch on the strong rooms, where the EVMs are stored.

Though exit polls have predicted that the TRS will win the elections, the Congress is confident that the people will give them a clear majority and all it has to do is to keep an eye on the EVMs.

Usually, the Election Commission keeps spare EVMs ready to replace those that may malfunction during voting. After the elections, the EC stores them, the EVMs used for voting and the spares in separate strong rooms. To make sure that no irregularities take place before counting, the Congress approached the EC and requested that it accept the proposal of deploying their teams at the strong rooms.

State Congress treasurer Gudur Narayana Reddy said, “We approached the Chief Electoral Officer. After getting clarification from the Central Election Commission, the CEO accepted our request. We have deployed three teams in each constituency in more than 80 constituencies that the Congress is expecting to win."

"We believe that most of the government officers are working for the caretaker government. We do not trust the revenue, police and other departments. As we had no other option, we have approached the EC. Our teams are watching the strongrooms from Saturday night,” Mr Narayana Reddy said.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s tweet on Saturday alerted the TPCC. Mr Gandhi posted on his Twitter handle saying, “Congress party workers, it’s time to be vigilant. In MP, EVMs behaved strangely after polling. Some stole a school bus and vanished for 2 days. Others slipped away and were found drinking in a hotel. In Modi’s India, the EVMs have mysterious powers. Stay alert!"

With voting completed, the Congress is considering the time remaining for the results as a crucial period. TPCC leaders are requesting their party workers to be vigilant until the EVMs are shifted to the counting centres.